Chelsea are finalising a £117m deal with Aston Villa to sign Morgan Rogers this summer.DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL EMPIRE OF THE KOP APP FOR ALL THE LATEST & BREAKING UPDATES – STRAIGHT TO YOUR PHONE! ON APPLE & GOOGLE PLAYBen Jacobs confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that Arsenal were only prepared to commit up to £80m to the transfer.The Gunners have since reportedly turned their attentions to Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams, and it raises further questions over their ability to sign Bradley Barcola.If £80m is Arsenal’s ceiling, they can’t afford Bradley BarcolaBy Rogers’ own admission, the obscene price tags that have been floated around his name have seemed a little over the top.Morgan Rogers formalised his Chelsea contract on Monday. 6+1 deal. £117m. Chelsea able to agree a deal with Aston Villa in 48 hours.Arsenal were only prepared to go to £80m and are now exploring other attacking targets. #AFC set to be busy in the next weeks. Another bid for… pic.twitter.com/Pj7Q1X9LT9— Ben Jacobs (@JacobsBen) July 21, 2026So we absolutely don’t blame the Gunners for not wanting to go above a perfectly reasonable £80m for the England international.Want more Empire of the Kop coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustHowever, assuming that PSG intend to stay firm to their own reported valuation of Barcola – the floor of which is thought to be around £112m – we wonder whether Arsenal’s alleged pivot to Williams is out of financial necessity.Of course, it’s also equally plausible that Mikel Arteta’s men may have simply valued Morgan Rogers at the stated figure. Their own internal assessment of the France international’s value may be somewhat different.Liverpool can’t skimp out on a new wingerLiverpool, meanwhile, aren’t in a position to haggle around the £80m mark. Quite frankly, we just don’t buy that £85m (a reported opening offer from the Reds) will be enough to seal the deal for the PSG wide man.READ MORE: Liverpool prepping ‘imminent’ £85m bid for Bradley Barcola as club-to-club talks escalate – reportRegardless, desperate times call for desperate measures. Mo Salah’s departure means we simply don’t have the appropriate firepower available ahead of the new campaign.Federico Chiesa is an option on the right, but ultimately wasn’t trusted to do a job for large swathes of the 2025/26 campaign. Even should Andoni Iraola hold a different opinion to his predecessor on the matter, the Italian isn’t of a comparable quality to our Egyptian King.Liverpool need quality. Ideally, they need an elite option they can count on the right flank – and that’s looking like Barcola after our failed push for Yan Diomande.More Stories / Latest News‘Contract formalised’ for £80m transfer in major Bradley Barcola to Liverpool boostJuly 21, 2026 11:27Bombshell Tuesday morning contract news breaks affecting Szoboszlai & GravenberchJuly 21, 2026 9:28Report: Liverpool eyeing potential swoop for ex-Man City forward; his price has shot up recentlyJuly 21, 2026 9:25The post ‘Contract formalised’ for £80m transfer in major Bradley Barcola to Liverpool boost appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.